Every year international leaders from business, government, and civil society congregate in New York City for a week-long conference to spotlight global climate action—and on the heels of a historic climate bill (the recently passed U.S. Inflation Reduction Act) urgency with a dash of optimism pervaded the air in every session.

Here’s your breakdown of Climate Week’s noteworthy moments, including our first ever Climate Pledge Summit:

Monday: A Collective Call for Climate Action

We kicked off climate week with a social media takeover involving over 70 signatories across multiple platforms encouraging ambitious climate action with one key message: be the planet’s turning point. Alongside this demonstration of collective commitment, signatories shared concrete actions their businesses are taking to meet the Pledge and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Water.org Makes a Splash at The Climate Pledge Leaders’ Reception

At the Climate Week NYC Leaders’ Reception, Amazon VP of Sustainability, Kara Hurst announced a partnership with Water.org to help provide access to safe water for 100 million people. This $10M financial announcement was followed days later by a panel discussion at The Climate Pledge Summit with Adam Selipsky (CEO, Amazon Web Services), Gary White (CEO & Co-Founder, Water.org and WaterEquity), and Matt Damon (Co-Founder, Water.org) focusing on the importance of the private sector in providing access to clean water.

Wednesday: Amazon Accelerates Renewable Energy Commitments with 71 New Projects

Amazon announced the expansion of its renewable energy investments with 71 new projects—379 total—further solidifying its place as the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world. Included in the announcement is Amazon’s first renewable energy project in South America—a solar farm in Brazil—and its first solar farms in India and Poland. 

Thursday: Signatories Convene at First Ever Climate Pledge Summit

On September 22^nd, The Climate Pledge hosted our first in-person signatory experience, The Climate Pledge Summit. The day-long event brought together senior executives from our signatories for a series of panel discussions addressing Pledge progress, future focus areas, and opportunities for joint action.

In addition to panel discussions, select Climate Pledge signatories and Climate Fund recipients gave Summit attendees a sneak-peek of their latest innovations and case studies through interactive exhibits. The displays allowed audience members to experience Pledge signatory innovations on a tangible level.

Carbon Neutrality and Conscious Capitalism

Grace Zuncic (Chief People and Culture Officer, Cotopaxi) and Annie Agle (Senior Director of Impact and Sustainability, Cotopaxi) discussed how newly-announced signatory, Cotopaxi, reached carbon neutrality through problem solving and clear goal setting.

Environmental Justice and Corporate Responsibility

Van Jones (co-founder, Dream.org) accompanied panelists Halla Tomasdottir (CEO and Chief Change Catalyst, BTeam) and Gilbert Campbell (CEO, Volt Energy) on stage for a conversation about the importance of a ‘just transition,’ and how businesses can start to incorporate environmental justice into their sustainability plans.

Decarbonizing Ocean Shipping

Lee Kindberg (Head of Environment and Sustainability, Maersk) and Melissa Peterson (Clean Energy executive, Ørsted) discussed how their collaboration to launch low carbon ocean shipping services at scale aims to reduce the 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions associated with ocean shipping.

For the Health of People and Planet

Celebrity chef Tanya Holland (as seen on Bravo TV’s Top Chef) took the stage with Peter McGuinness (CEO, Impossible Foods) for a conversation about the global food system and its ability to enable climate change solutions.

Driving Corporate Action

Dara Khosrowshahi (CEO, Uber) and Jackie Davalos (Tech Reporter, Bloomberg) shed light on Uber’s commitment to go fully electric by 2030 and advocated for transparency in emission reporting.

Our Path Forward

Christiana Figueres (co-founder of The Climate Pledge and Global Optimism) addressed the crowd with an inspiring (and motivating) lecture about the current state of the climate crisis, what’s at stake for humanity, and the future we’re helping create by taking ambitious climate action.

Future of Flight

Blain Newton (Chief Operating Officer, BETA Technologies) took attendees on a journey through BETA Technologies’ first cross-country mission of their fully-electric, zero-emission aircraft.

The Pivot from Voluntary to Mandatory

Mindy Lubber (President and CEO, Ceres) and Kristen Sullivan (Partner, Deloitte) discussed current policy initiatives in the United States and Europe, highlighting key themes and considerations for signatories.

Water is the Way

Adam Selipsky, Matt Damon, and Gary White joined Al Roker (co-host of the Today Show) to discuss the power of clean drinking water, and how businesses can come together to make real change.